Fusion pack containing both a sheet stack and corrugated board that are overwrapped by plastic film in a seal tight manner without damage to the sheet stack

ABSTRACT

A package of a sheet stack and a corrugated board all overwrapped with plastic film that is heat sealed. The sheet stack and the corrugated board are adjacent each other. The corrugated board is thicker and larger than each of the posterboard sheets to protect corner regions of the sheet stack from damage otherwise arising from bending and curling forces imposed from heat sealing the overwrapped plastic film. The sheet stack may have arranged one after the other either posterboard sheets or foam core board sheets or both.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

U.S. provisional patent application No. 63/137,205 filed Jan. 14, 2021from which the present application asserts the benefit of inventionpriority.

STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH OR DEVELOPMENT

Not applicable.

THE NAMES OF THE PARTIES TO A JOINT RESEARCH AGREEMENT

Not applicable.

REFERENCE TO A “SEQUENCE LISTING,” A TABLE, OR A COMPUTER PROGRAMLISTING APPENDIX SUBMITTED ON A COMPACT DISC AND ANINCORPORATION-BY-REFERENCE

Not applicable.

BACKGROUND OF THE IN THE INVENTION Field of the Invention

The invention relates to a sealed, overwrapped package containing acorrugated board adjacent a sheet stack of either posterboards, foamcore boards or a both of them.

Description of Information Known to the Inventor, Including Referencesto Specific Documents Related to the Invention, and Specific ProblemsInvolved in the State of Technology that the Invention is Drawn Toward

Polyolefin shrink is an extremely durable and versatile ‘premium’ shrinkwrap. Polyolefin materials are available with different characteristics,including cross-linked wrap that provides high-tensile strength andincredible clarity for high-speed packaging applications.

With added strength, the ability to create longer rolls of wrap withthinner gauges available that allow for less roll change-over andincreased efficiency and productivity.

Polyolefin shrink wrap has excellent puncture-resistance andseal-strength, allowing for irregular-shaped items to have excellentprotection throughout its supply chain life-cycle. POF is available inthicknesses as low as 35-gauge (0.35 mil), and is more commonlyavailable in 45, 60, 75 and 100 (1 mil) gauges.

Polyethylene (PE) is a type of polyolefin, meaning it is a singlemonomer wrap that is formed with the addition of ethylene duringpolymerization. PE is used in several forms of flexible protectivepackaging including shrink wrap and stretch wrap, and performs verydifferently for each.

There are multiple forms that PE can take, but the three most commonwould be Low-Density Polyethylene (LDPE), Linear Low-DensityPolyethylene (LLDPE), & High-Density Polyethylene (HDPE). Each of theseare best used in different industrial applications, but for shrinkpackaging LDPE would be the most common form.

The benefits of using LDPE over the other forms of shrink packagingwould be added strength and durability for heavier, larger items. Thesewraps are also printable and can have excellent graphics added whilestill maintaining the image and the strength required.

It is known to overwrap a sheet stack of posterboard with plastic filmin which sheets of posterboard are arranged one adjacent another insuccession. It is also known to overwrap a sheet stack of foam coreboard with plastic film in which sheets of foam core board are arrangedone adjacent another in succession. Conventionally, such overwrappedsheet stacks are placed into opaque boxes for shipment to a desiredretail destination. The box protects the sheet stack from damage duringtransit. Its opaqueness, however, conceals the color of the sheetstacks.

In order to lessen the overall cost for shipment and render visible thecolor of the sheet stacks, it would be desirable to eliminate the boxesentirely and to have the plastic film overwrap in a seal tight manner.Shipping labels can then be applied to the overwrap. However, thepresent inventors found that when the plastic film of an overwrappedsheet stack of posterboard is heat shrunk to attain the seal tightmanner of the overwrapped plastic film, the sheet stack becomes damagedfrom forces imposed by the shrinking overwrap during the heat sealprocess. For example, curling damage may arise along the corners andedges of the sheet stack. The presence of such damage is unacceptablecommercially to the consumer. Further, the sheet stack could becomefurther damaged from handling during transit to the retailerdestination.

It is therefore desired to provide a manner of providing an overwrappedsheet stack of either posterboards, foam core boards, or both withoutcontaining them in opaque boxes for shipment to a destination retailerand yet avoid damaging the sheet stack from forces imposed while theoverwrapped plastic film is being sealed tight.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Our invention is a package that includes a conventional plastic filmthat overwraps both a sheet stack and a corrugated board and subjectingthe overwrap to heat shrink sealing. The plastic film may be polyolefinor polyethylene. The sheet stack may be sheets of conventionalposterboards, sheets of conventional foam core board, or both.

The package of the overwrapped plastic film and the corrugated board ineffect hold the sheet stack together with its sheets arranged one afteranother in succession until the package reaches a retail store, wherethe plastic film and the corrugated board are removed and discarded. Thesheet stack is then put onto a display rack for sale without thediscarded plastic film or the discarded corrugated board.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING

For a better understanding of the present invention, reference is madeto the following description and accompanying drawings, while the scopeof the invention is set forth in the appended claims. The patent orapplication file contains at least one drawing executed in color. Copiesof this patent or patent application publication with color drawing(s)will be provided by the Office upon request and payment of the necessaryfee.

FIG. 1 is an isometric view of a front, a top and a right side of apackage in accordance with the invention.

FIG. 2 is a photograph showing the rear view of the package of FIG. 1 asthe front of the package lays upon a floor in a horizontal orientation.A face of a corrugated board is visible through the transparent overwrapof the package from the rear.

FIG. 3 is a photograph of the front view of the package of FIG. 1 as therear of the package lays upon the floor to remain in a horizontalorientation. A face of an end one of a stack of poster board sheets isvisible through the transparent overwrap of the package from the front.

FIG. 4 is photograph of an isometric view of the top and front of thepackage of FIGS. 1 to 3. The bottom is symmetric to the top and ispositioned upon the floor. The package remains standing upright in avertical orientation by leaning against a corner edge of an open doorcorner.

FIG. 5 is a photograph showing an isometric view of the right side andrear of the package of FIGS. 1-4. The left side is symmetric to theright side and is positioned upon the floor. The package remainsstanding upright in a vertical orientation by leaning against the corneredge of the open door.

FIG. 6 is a photograph showing a top view of a conventional packagecontaining posterboard sheets but which omits containing a corrugatedboard within.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

Turning to the drawing, a package is shown that includes a plastic filmoverwrapping both a corrugated board 10 and a sheet stack of posterboardsheets 12 that are arranged adjacent one another. The plastic film has amidway seam or crease 14 that extends about midway across the front ofthe package and extending to opposite sides. Although not shown in FIG.1, but shown in FIGS. 2-5, an edge seam or crease 16 of the plastic filmextends along the top, bottom and two sides. The midway creaseterminates at the edge seam or crease 16. The package has the corrugatedboard 10 at one end and the rest of the package is filled with the setof posterboard sheets 12. The gap in the line drawing in the middleregion of the posterboard sheets 12 merely constitutes a representationthat any number of posterboard sheets may be present, whether the numberof posterboard sheets total ten, fifteen, twenty, twenty-five, thirty ormore.

The process of forming the package involves sheeting the posterboard inbatches of various counts from rolls to form sheet stacks and thendropping in line onto each of the batches a sheet of corrugated boardfrom a hopper. Thereafter, each batch of the sheet stacks with thecorrugated board are overwrapped with the plastic film to form a packthen the pack is heat shrunk to seal the pack and then placed on a skidfor subsequent delivery.

The essence of the invention is that the corrugated board is preferablythicker than an individual sheet of the sheet stack to strengthen theplastic film wrapped pack when being shipped. It is preferred that theareal size of the corrugated board be larger than the areal size of anindividual sheet of the sheet stack to provide additional protection ofthe corners and edges of the sheet stack by virtue of being larger insize.

Nevertheless, the corrugated board could be the same areal size as anindividual sheet of the sheet stack and still provide protection of thecorners and edges of the sheet stack. While it is not preferred that thecorrugated board be smaller than the areal size of an individual sheetof the sheet stack, such is still viable because its greater thicknesswould provide some degree of protection as a barrier against damage tothe sheet stack during transit and might prevent some damage to thecorners and edges of the sheet stack during heat shrink sealingespecially if it were only slightly smaller in areal size. Thecorrugated board is sturdier than any of the individual sheets of thesheet stack and might even be sturdier than the entire sheet stack as awhole, depending upon the number of individual sheets in the stack.

Some benefits of the pack include that that the pack costs less tomanufacture than providing and assembling an opaque box to contain theposterboards instead and that the color of the posterboard can bevisually seen through the plastic film, unlike the case for the opaquebox containing the posterboards instead that hides the color from viewfrom outside the box.

The corrugation of the corrugated board is preferably in a flutedirection that supports the long direction of the posterboard, althoughflute direction may instead be in the short direction of the corrugatedboard.

The plastic film that overwraps is preferably a strong heat shrink typeplastic film, although the plastic film may alternatively be any othertype—just that the strong heat type is considered the better choice. Theplastic film of the pack is preferably heat shrunk to make the packstronger and more protective, although the pack does not need to be heatshrunk to be useful.

The corrugated board protects the sheet stack from damage otherwisearising from bending or curling forces imposed as the overwrap plasticfilm is heat shrunk. Such damage 20 is to corner regions of theposterboard sheets as exemplified in FIG. 6, which arose because thereis no corrugated board present within the overwrap of the sheet stackwith the plastic film. The result of such damage 20 to the cornerregions that arise during the heat sealing of the overwrapped plasticfilm is an unkempt appearance.

The previously discussed sheet stack of conventional posterboard sheetsmay be replaced by a stack of conventional foam core board sheetsinstead. A foam core board (or foam board) sheet is more rigid than aposterboard sheet. Alternatively, the stack could have both posterboardsand foam core boards. That is, both a set of individual sheets ofposterboard and a set of individual sheets of foam core board.

While the foregoing description and drawings represent the preferredembodiments of the present invention, various changes and modificationsmay be made without departing from the scope of the present invention.

1. A protective package, comprising: a sheet stack having a plurality ofindividual sheets arranged one after another, the individual sheets ofthe sheet stack being selected from a group consisting of posterboardsheets, foam core board sheets, and a combination of both; a corrugatedboard adjacent the sheet stack; and a plastic film overwrapping in aseal tight manner both the sheet stack and the corrugated board thatremain adjacent each other, the sheet stack being free of curling damageeven though the plastic film is overwrapping in the seal tight manner,whereby a presence of the corrugated board protects the sheet stack fromthe curling damage that otherwise arises from forces imposed by theoverwrapped plastic film in attaining the seal tight manner of theoverwrapped plastic film.
 2. The protective package of claim 1, whereinthe sheet stack is configured to experience the curling damage fromforces imposed by the overwrapped plastic film as the overwrappedplastic film heat shrunk only about the sheet stack without thecorrugated board being present within the overwrapped plastic film toattain the seal tight manner of the overwrapped plastic film.
 3. Theprotective package of claim 1, wherein the overwrapped plastic film isheat sealed to attain the seal tight manner of the overwrapped plasticfilm.
 4. The protective package of claim 1, wherein the corrugated boardis at least a same areal size of each of the individual sheets andthicker than each of the individual sheets.
 5. The protective package ofclaim 4, wherein the corrugated board is larger in size than each of theindividual sheets, whereby edges of the individual sheets are furtherprotected from damage as a consequence of the corrugated board beinglarger in size.
 6. The protective package of claim 1, wherein thecorrugated board is larger in size than each of the individual sheets,whereby edges of the individual sheets are further protected from damageas a consequence of the corrugated board being larger in size.
 7. Theprotective package of claim 1, wherein corner regions of the sheet stackare free of the damage and portions of the overwrapped plastic film thatoverwrap the corner regions are heat sealed to attain the seal tightmanner of the overwrapped plastic film.
 8. A method of attaining aprotective package, comprising: selecting individual sheets from thegroup consisting of posterboard sheets, foam core board sheets, and acombination of both; forming a sheet stack with the individual sheetsarranged one after another; arranging the sheet stack and a corrugatedboard adjacent each other; and overwrapping the plastic film in a sealtight manner about both the sheet stack and the corrugated board thatremain adjacent each other, the sheet stack being free of curling damageeven though the plastic film is overwrapping in the seal tight manner,whereby a presence of the corrugated board protects the sheet stack fromthe curling damage that otherwise arises from forces imposed by theoverwrapped plastic film in attaining the seal tight manner of theoverwrapped plastic film.
 9. The method of claim 8, wherein the sheetstack is configured to experience curling damage from the forces imposedby the overwrapped plastic film in attaining the seal tight manner ofthe overwrapped plastic film without the corrugated board being presentwithin the overwrapped plastic film.
 10. The method of claim 8, furthercomprising: heat shrinking the plastic film to attain the seal tightmanner of the overwrapped plastic film.
 11. The method of claim 8,wherein the corrugated board is at least a same areal size of each ofthe individual sheets and thicker.
 12. The method of claim 11, whereinthe corrugated board is larger in size than each of the individualsheets.
 13. The method of claim 8, wherein the corrugated board islarger in size than each of the individual sheets.